Elija2 recommends some manga

[Elija2]

I'm not gonna lie, it was totally a coincidence that I started reading manga again right at the beginning of May.

[Hakudamashi]

Suuuuuuuuuure it was.

[Elija2]

So I was originally planning for May to be a month where I read a bunch of manga, at least one per week. As you can tell, that isn't happening. Good thing I didn't make it a promise! But to make up for it I read a long manga this time (at least, it's long for my standards — this might be the first manga I've ever read with a triple-digit number of chapters).


Wandering Son
This manga is about two friends: Shuichi Nitori — a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino Takatsuki — a girl who wants to be a boy. The story follows them as they deal with gender identity, puberty, and growing up.

I really enjoyed this manga. Like Saturn Apartments, I fell in love with all of the characters and I couldn't put the manga down because I was too eager to read more about them. It was also really interesting to read a manga about growing up while trans and I thought its depictions of trans people were well done. The last volume felt a bit rushed but I was still satisfied by the ending. There's also a short anime series, but I have no idea how well it compares to the manga. If you're into slice of life manga, I highly recommend you read this one.

[hamzeh221]

THE best Anime Manga is
One piece

[Elija2]

River's Edge
Two teenagers — Haruna and Yamada — become friends after Haruna defends him several times from her boyfriend's ruthless bullying. Yamada decides to show Haruna a secret treasure of his, but once he does Haruna realizes that Yamada is not well in the head, and she might not be either.

I enjoyed this manga, but I'm not sure why. It's dark, depressing, and at times even a bit gross, but I just couldn't stop reading it. Usually the things I value most in a story are the characters. If the characters are great then the story doesn't have to be anything special. In this manga, almost every character is literally insane and probably a terrible person, and yet I don't think any of them are bad characters. Like, Yamada is a sick weirdo, Haruna's boyfriend is a mean-spirited asshole, and even Haruna herself is complicit in a lot of bad things, but I still like them all. Usually when the main characters in a manga are assholes it puts me off and makes me not want to continue reading, but these characters weren't just bad people. There was more to their behaviour than that.

A while ago I started reading the manga A Silent Voice, but I just couldn't get past the first volume because the main character was a huge asshole to this poor deaf girl for literally no reason. Apparently he redeems himself later, but that doesn't matter. The things that this main character did to that girl just weren't believable. Nobody would pick on someone like that for no reason! In River's Edge, Haruna's boyfriend bullies Yamada because he thinks he's gay. Yeah it's a shitty reason and he's still a shitty person, but at least it's a reason! I can believe that he's a terrible character because I know that there are bullies who treat gay people like that in real life. In turn, I can understand Yamada's behaviour because he's probably been bullied for most of his life and shit like that messes you up psychologically. Every terrible thing that the characters in this manga do is contextualized and I guess that's what matters the most to me. I can't believe I'm praising a manga for that.

Honestly, I'm not sure if anyone else here would like this manga due to its subject matter, but it's really short so I think you should give it a shot if you're into darker stuff. I mean, I think I wrote more about this manga than any of the others that I recommended and that's gotta be worth something, right?

[Hakudamashi]

Well I finally got around to reading Undercurrent
I am not liking the artstyle nor is the premise piquing my interest.

[Elija2]

I can't believe you kept your promise.

What's wrong with the art style? I thought it got the job done.

[Hakudamashi]

I dunno what else to tell you other than it doesn't please me.

[Elija2]

Well to each his own.

[Raidein]

Read my webcomic I'm working on with my brother.
...at least when we've finished at least the first page.
It's a Cave Story webcomic -
(by the way, the thumbnail is placeholder until we've got one drawn)
http://tapastic.com/series/CAVE_STORY

[Elija2]

Read my webcomic I'm working on with my brother.
...at least when we've finished at least the first page.
It's a Cave Story webcomic -
(by the way, the thumbnail is placeholder until we've got one drawn)
http://tapastic.com/series/CAVE_STORY

I don't usually read what is essentially fanfiction but I guess I'll give this a read.

[Elija2]

So word just got out that Junji Ito, the writer and illustrator of Uzumaki, was collaborating on Silent Hills before it was cancelled. So I guess if you were hyped for Silent Hills, maybe give Uzumaki a read.

[Ioshyriku]

My friend from Italy recommended it to me and I loved reading it. Now I'm more upset about the cancellation.

[Elija2]

To celebrate this great news, I just read The Enigma of Amigara Fault by Junji Ito. It's super short so I don't really know if I should include it in the OP and make a fancy post about it, but I can safely say that I really enjoyed it. It makes a great primer for anyone who wants to know what his works are like.

[lozphx]

Akame Ga Kill is a Good read if you want action